“At the turn of the twentieth century, Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino headed up an “Italian squad” that dealt with issues in that community. One of the biggest issues facing Sicilian and Italian American immigrants was the presence of “The Black Hand.” A forerunner of the Mafia, the latter was a loose band of Italian Americans who used the (largely fictitious) specter of an underworld gang called “The Black Hand” to extort money from their countrymen. The fearless Petrosino made hundreds of Black Hand arrests and wasn’t above beating up suspects in the street for added humiliation.

In March, 1909, Petrosino traveled to Palermo, Sicily, to investigate Black Hand links with the Sicilian Mafia. On March 12, 1909, he was murdered, almost certainly by Mafia assassins. He remains the only New York City police officer killed while on assignment in another country. When his body was returned to the United States, an estimated 250,000 people viewed his coffin as it passed by on the streets of New York, mourning a brave cop.”

And now, over a century later, Italian police claimed that the long-standing mystery of who killed Joseph Petrosino has been resolved at last.

For further reading, my book The Mafia: A Guide to an American Subculture, is available through Barnes and Noble, Amazon or directly from the publisher, ABC-CLIO.

(Nate Hendley is a Toronto-based freelance writer and true-crime author. His website is located at www.natehendley.com)

Dutch Schultz (real-name Arthur Flegenheimer) was a highly eccentric, highly successful Jewish-American gangster. He rose to prominence peddling awful bootleg beer during Prohibition in the 1920s. His product was lousy but his sales methods were persuasive (when faced with a stubborn speakeasy manager, Schultz had the man kidnapped, hung by his thumbs from a meat-hook and tortured).

If beer made Schultz rich and powerful, it was ‘numbers’ that pushed him into the criminal stratosphere. The numbers racket was simply an illegal lottery. People bet on a three-digit combination, from 000 to 999. The gangsters who ran the racket selected winning digits on the basis of objective statistics, such as sports scores. Anyone who had bet on the winning numbers received a small cash payment.

The numbers racket was hugely popular in New York City, particularly with African-Americans. It was cheap (most bets were for pennies), easy to play and offered a low-risk way to gamble.

In the early 1930s, the highly profitable Harlem numbers racket was controlled by African-American mobsters. Established Italian and Jewish gangs of the era turned their noses up at numbers, treating the racket with racist contempt.

Schultz had better business sense. Through intimidation and violence, he soon took control of the Harlem numbers scene. To the astonishment of his peers, Schultz was soon pulling down millions of dollars in profit on numbers.

Schultz was not popular with his fellow gangsters. He dressed like a slob (which offended more sartorial-minded mobsters) and wasn’t much of a team-player.

Despite this, Schultz maintained an incredible winning streak—for a while. He managed to beat two income tax raps, of the variety that had brought down mighty Al Capone in Chicago. His luck ran out, however, when Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey set his sights on the Dutchman (as he was called, colloquially).

Unnerved by Dewey’s aggressive investigation into his business affairs, Schultz announced that the Special Prosecutor had to be killed. This alarmed his gangster peers, who had no compunctions about murder but avoided killing cops, judges and prosecutors for fear of massive retaliation.

A “hit” was ordered on Schultz, to stop him from assassinating Dewey. On October 23, 1935, a pair of professional killers burst into a New Jersey restaurant where Schultz was meeting with some cronies. The killers shot each man in Schultz’s party, including the Dutchman. A photographer who arrived on the scene captured the classic picture shown above, of Schultz splayed over a table.

Schultz survived the shooting–for a time. He lingered in hospital in a high-fever delirium, babbling insanely.

October 24, 1935 The Dutchman was dying. The bullet in his gut had caused massive internal injuries and sent his temperature soaring. Staring fixedly at the ceiling from his hospital bed, Arthur Flegenheimer – aka Dutch Schultz – cried and babbled. In his delirium, he began weaving a weird tapestry of unconnected phrases, names, and oaths. A police stenographer sat by the gangster’s side, taking down every word. The authorities hoped Schultz might reveal Mob secrets in his final monologue. But Dutch proved as elusive in his dying hours as he had been in life. “No, no. There are only 10 of us and there are 10 million fighting somewhere in front of you, so get your onions up and we will throw up the truce flag,” he raved. “Oh, please let me up. Please shift me. Police are here. Communistic … strike … baloney … honestly, this is a habit I get; sometimes I give it and sometimes I don’t. Oh, I am all in. That settles it. Are you sure? Please let me get in and eat. Let him harass himself to you and then bother you.” None of it made any sense to the police. They kept listening, however, as Schultz rambled on, his mind journeying back and forth over the course of his brief, but spectacular, criminal life.

(Nate Hendley is a crime writer based in Toronto, Ontario. You can find out more about his books and background at www.natehendley.com)

I am proud to say I am taking part in this fine, fundraising event. I am offering “a date with Nate (so to speak)” — lunch or dinner with a chatty crime writer (me). I pay.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PWAC Announces Launch of its Online Service Auction

Toronto, ON (May 26, 2014)—The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) announces the launch of its online service auction. Bidders from across Canada and around the world are invited to join in the fun and frenzy by bidding on the high quality auction items, from May 26, 2014, to June 5, 2014.

Auction items include an introduction to tracing your family history, a backpack trip in the Canadian Rockies, dinner with a crime writer, a personalized wedding ceremony and of course a selection of writing services for individuals and organizations in Canada and beyond.

The online auction is being held as a fundraiser for PWAC, with all proceeds from the auction items going directly to the organization. The online auction can be found at http://www.32auctions.com/pwac2014. All items can be viewed immediately, with bidding starting May 26, 2014 at 12:00 PM EDT and ending June 5, 2014, at 10:00 PM EDT.

The winning bids will be announced at the PWAC awards dinner at MagNet on June 5, 2014.

The Professional Writers Association of Canada is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights and professional interests of Canadian non-fiction writers. The organization also offers resources and professional development to support writers in their careers. For more information about PWAC,

(The closest major intersection near the library is Kennedy Road and Eglinton Ave. East. The branch is located on northwest corner of Eglinton Ave. East in Liberty Square, which has ample parking space)

Sylvia Warsh was born in Germany to Holocaust survivors and immigrated to Canada as a child. She writes the Dr. Rebecca Temple series set in 1979 Toronto. The first book was nominated for an Arthur, the second, Find Me Again, won an Edgar award; the third was shortlisted for a ReLit Award. Her fourth book, The Queen of Unforgetting, is an historical novel that was chosen for a plaque by Project Bookmark Canada. Her most recent book is Best Girl, a rapids reads mystery novella. Sylvia also teaches writing to seniors.

Alvin Abram is a storyteller, writer and graphic designer of books. Since 1997, at the age of 61 when he wrote his first manuscript, he has had over 100 speaking engagements, has been reviewed on radio, television and in the newspapers in Canada and the U.S. His latest mystery, The Dead Don’t Weep (2008), features Detective Gabe Garshowitz chasing a killer on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.

Sylvia and Alvin will read from original works and answer questions about their books and the mystery genre posed by host Nate Hendley (author of several true-crime books books)